58 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



a State which is receiving a large amount of immigration annually 

 would be to encourage as much as possible the learning oj^ the native 

 tongue. 



At the present time the most serious problem of immigration that 

 is confronting the United States is the question of getting the immi- 

 grants to go into the country or to the remoter cities instead of colon- 

 izing in the great Eastern cities and Chicago. There can be but little 

 doubt that the educational requirement of the voters would give a 

 strong impulse to many of these foreigners to acquire the native lan- 

 guage, and, having once acquired this, there would not be the same 

 tendency to congregate in the colony which the more ignorant and 

 illiterate of their brethren had established in the city. Other parts of 

 the United States, where their native tongue is not heard, would not 

 repel them, and their assimilation would be comparatively easy. 



A great advantage in favor of the enactment of a law requiring voters 

 to be able to read and write the Enghsh language is the fact that such 

 a law would require no administrative machinery to put it into execu- 

 tion. It would be a self-executory law, just as the other election laws 

 are at the present time. Each political party sees to it that all voters 

 of the opposite party comply with the statutes or they are not allowed 

 to vote. 



A number of the American states require certain educational quali- 

 fications of their voters. Following is the list, with a brief summary 

 of the constitutional provisions. 



Alabama: 



Must read and write constitution in English language. 

 Following classes exempt: 



(a) Persons physically unable to read and write; 

 (6) Owners or husbands of owners of 40 acres of land in state; 

 (c) Owners of real estate assessed at $300; 



{d) Owners of personal estate assessed at I300, on which taxes have been 

 paid for preceding year. 



Constitution of 1901, Art. 8, §181. 

 California: 



Must read constitution in English and write name. 

 Following classes exempt: , » 



(a) Voters in 1894; 



